Stephen Alpher

Co-regional news chief, Americas

Stephen is CoinDesk's managing editor for Markets. He previously served as managing editor at Seeking Alpha. A native of suburban Washington, D.C., Stephen went to the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School, majoring in finance. He holds BTC above CoinDesk’s disclosure threshold of $1,000.

Latest from Stephen Alpher

Markets

Bitcoin Slips to Near $65K as Mt. Gox Creditors Receive Assets on Kraken

Bitcoin cash led with a 7% decline, while Solana's SOL, Ripple's XRP and Cardano's ADA also dropped 4%-5% as the news of the Mt. Gox distribution weighed on sentiment.

Jul 23, 2024

Markets

Spot Ether ETFs See $600M in Volume In First Half Day of Trading

Funds from Grayscale, BlackRock and Fidelity have seen the most volume, though analysts believe that Grayscale’s high amount comes from heavy outflows.

Jul 23, 2024

The eight recently launched spot ETH ETFs posted nearly $600M of volume in the first half of their first day of availability. (Charlie Harris/Unsplash)

Markets

CoinDesk 20 Performance Update: Index Slips 2.2% as Spot Ether ETFs Begin Trading

Declines of 5.6% in ICP and 5.2% in AVAX dragged the index down in overnight trading.

Jul 23, 2024

9am CoinDesk 20 Update for 2024-07-23 - laggards

Markets

Ether Rises Above $3.5K Ahead of ETH ETF Trading, but Inflow Concerns Remain

Ethereum has more utility than Bitcoin with features like liquid staking, but the question among the ETH ETFs performing as well as BTC ETFs remains ahead of trading.

Jul 23, 2024

Ether is now trading on U.S. stock exchanges via newly approved ETFs. (Aditya Vyas/Unsplash)

Markets

Taking Profits on Bitcoin Ahead of Trump Conference Appearance Could Be 'Expensive Exercise': Analyst

Markus Thielen, founder of 10x Research, fully expects Trump to win the November election, triggering an early exit for SEC Chair Gary Gensler.

Jul 22, 2024

MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN - JULY 15: (L-R) Tucker Carlson, U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds (R-FL), Republican presidential candidate, former U.S. President Donald Trump, Republican Vice Presidential candidate, U.S. Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH), and Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-LA) appear on the first day of the Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum on July 15, 2024 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Delegates, politicians, and the Republican faithful are in Milwaukee for the annual convention, concluding with former President Donald Trump accepting his party's presidential nomination. The RNC takes place from July 15-18. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Markets

CoinDesk 20 Performance Update: AVAX and SOL Surge Lead Weekend Advance

AVAX led the CoinDesk 20 with a 14.5% increase in over the weekend trading, while SOL climbed 6.0%

Jul 22, 2024

Markets

CoinDesk 20 Performance Update: SOL Jumps 4.1% Amid Broad Market Uptick

The CoinDesk 20 Index saw a 1% increase, driven by strong performances from SOL and APT.

Jul 19, 2024

Finance

Italy's Top Banks Participate in 25M Euro Digital Bond Issuance on Polygon in ECB Trial

Global lenders and asset managers are increasingly exploring blockchain tech to issue and transfer traditional financial instruments, also known as tokenization of real-world assets.

Jul 18, 2024

Intesa Sanpaolo headquarters in Turin (Riccardo Tuninato/Unsplash)

Markets

Bitcoin Slumps Towards $63K as Speculation About Biden Dropout Intensifies

As the odds for Joe Biden pulling out of the presidential race soared over the past day, the chances of victory for the now crypto-friendly Donald Trump slipped on prediction market Polymarket.

Jul 18, 2024

Bitcoin (BTC) price on July 18 (CoinDesk)

Markets

Bitcoin Dips Below $64K as U.S. Equity Selloff Stalls Crypto Rebound

A stock market correction is the biggest risk for the crypto market, but a renewed downturn would be a buying opportunity, an LMAX Group strategist said.

Jul 17, 2024